College football Week 7: 15 players to watch

Chase Brown made this list a week ago, and he certainly didn't disappoint. Against a good Iowa defense, Brown rushed for 146 yards in a 9-6 win for the Illini. He didn't find the endzone against Iowa, and he strangely has just four TD runs this season despite being the nation's leading rusher. Still, he's been outstanding at pounding away and just eating up carries and eat-up yards, and Illinois is now eating up wins. Last year Brown ran for 147 yards against Minnesota, this week's opponent. 

I wrote about Centeio last week and he didn't disappoint. Against Arkansas State last week, he completed 28 of 37 passes for 394 yards and four touchdowns in the 42-20 win. As you may recall, Centeio began his college career at Temple back in 2017 before transferring to Colorado State after three seasons. After two years with the Rams, he's now at James Madison, heading up the Dukes' first season as an FBS program and the first Associated Press top 25 ranking ever. Now he faces a Georgia State defense that is one of the worst in the country. 

First off, Jonathan Mingo had a ridiculous game last week for Ole Miss, catching nine passes for a school-record 247 yards and a touchdown. The guy who threw those passes to him also had a great game: Jaxson Dart. The Utah native and USC transfer put up 448 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 28 completions in a 52-28 win over Vanderbilt -- all season highs. Ole Miss is an outstanding rushing team in that the more Dart feels comfortable in Lane Kiffin's offense to more explosive that offense will be. I mean, he showed you that last week and now has the Rebels ranked in the top ten. Ole Miss hosts Auburn on Saturday.

When discussing USC's offense under Lincoln Riley, we obviously gravitate toward quarterback Caleb Williams and receiver Jordan Addison, but running back Travis Dye deserves some shine. Remember that Riley's best offenses at Oklahoma were able to run the football and Dye has certainly done that. He's rushed for over 100 yards four times in five games, including a workhorse-like effort last week against Washington State (28 carries, 149 yards, TD). Dye was a 1,200-yard rusher for Oregon last year and his experience has helped make the Trojans' offense so potent. USC travels to Utah to face a very physical Utes team that likes to push around opponents. 

Here we go! It is the third Saturday in October, which means Tennessee hosts rival Alabama this week, and for the first time in a long time, the Volunteers feel like they are on equal ground with the Tide. The reason Vols fans are optimistic is their quarterback, Hendon Hooker. Hooker has been fantastic this season, completing 70% of his passes and looking every bit of a Heisman candidate. He also showed up in last season's meeting with the Crimson Tide, throwing for 282 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 52-24 loss. 

What a big game in a big moment for TCU receiver Quentin Johnston last week. Johnston caught 14 passes for 206 yards and a 45-yard touchdown in a win at Kansas. This was easily the best game of the season for Johnston, who has been banged up all season, and it was obvious that quarterback Max Duggan was targeting him all day (his interceptions were even thrown toward Johnston). He finally caught his first touchdown of the season (he had six last year). Last year, Johnston followed up a huge game with an absolute stinker against Oklahoma State (2 catches, -3 yards). Look for him to have a big game.

The dynamic of Michigan's offense and their ceiling has certainly changed when J.J. McCarthy took over as the Wolverines' starting quarterback in Week 2. A prized recruit that Michigan fans have been salivating over has been as advertised, completing over 78% of his passes and finally giving the Wolverines a passing attack that rivals their running game. He played well enough against a very strong Iowa defense two weeks ago that it loosened up those running lanes. Last week was his best college game, throwing for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns against Indiana. Still, playing at Michigan means there are big games yet to come, and they get one of those tests this week: Penn State. 

If you need a football fix on Friday night, try the Navy-SMU game. Sure, SMU has been a disappointment this season -- they've lost three straight -- but quarterback Tanner Mordecai is exciting to watch. He's thrown for over 360 yards in a game three times already and has put up nearly 1,700 yards in just five games this season. The Oklahoma transfer likes to sling it, and new head coach Rhett Lashlee lets him do just that (148 pass attempts over the last three games), even if Mordecai tends to be loose with the ball. In those three games, he's thrown five touchdowns and five interceptions. 

The defending Big 12 champions have had an up-and-down season, but running back Richard Reese has been a nice find for the Baylor Bears. The freshman has already scored seven touchdowns ... finding the endzone in four of the Bears' five games ... and is averaging 5.6 yards per carry. He emerged as Baylor's feature back in their Week 3 win over Texas State (156 yards, 3 TDs) and became more involved in the passing attack in their last game against Oklahoma State. Not to mention he's part of the group of players who are in an NIL deal with Reese's, who have been signing football players with the last name "Reese." Not too bad. Baylor heads to West Virginia for a Thursday night showdown in Morgantown. 

Pretty much every week, Bijan Robinson's name is featured in this space -- and it's well deserved. He was tremendous last week in that total dismantling of Oklahoma, rushing for 130 yards and two touchdowns in the 49-0 win. That was his fourth straight 100-yard game and fifth straight game with a TD run (and third multi-TD game of the season). He's just one rushing touchdown behind the 11 he scored last season. While I'm not going to say that "Texas is back," I will say that Bijan Robinson is one of the most dangerous players in college football and should continue to be in the Heisman hunt. Another noon kickoff for the Horns as they host Iowa State in Austin. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: watch out for Will Rogers. You know that Mike Leach loves to throw the football around and Rogers seems to be the perfect guy for his system. He leads the nation with 2,110 yards, and his 22 touchdowns are second to Ohio State's C.J. Stroud. And it isn't as if he's just gun-slinging since he's thrown just three picks all season. I mean, he just lit up Arkansas for 395 yards and 3 TDs a week after putting up similar numbers in a win over Texas A&M (329 yards, 3 TDs). Now the Bulldogs go up to Lexington to face an angry Kentucky Wildcats squad and their tough defense. 

Oklahoma State again has a good look at a Big 12 title and they need more consistency from quarterback Spencer Sanders to get there. Sanders was solid in their win over Baylor two weeks ago (20 of 29, 181 yards, TD, INT) but completed less than half his passes against Texas Tech last week (22 of 45, 297 yards, TD). Of course, he was a beast running the football in those two games (131 yards, 3 TDs combined) and that part of his skill set continues to be a problem for opponents. Oklahoma State heads to TCU in an important Big 12 matchup on Saturday. Last year, the Cowboys rushed for 447 yards on the Horned Frogs in a blowout.

Penn State may be the quietest top-ten team in the nation, but they have a great shot to put the nation on notice this week. Penn State travels to Michigan for the first of several big-time Big Ten East showdowns over the next eight weeks. For the Nittany Lions to leave Ann Arbor with a huge win, running back, Nicholas Singleton will have to have a huge game. He "quietly" rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown against Northwestern last week, which was noisier than his 42 yards in an easy win over Central Michigan the previous week. Before that, he had two sparkling performances against Auburn and Ohio (299 yards, 4 TDs combined). Let's see what he does on the freshman's biggest stage yet. 

When facing a great dual-threat quarterback, linebacker play is of the utmost importance in slowing him down. Alabama will look to former Volunteer Henry To’o To’o to stop Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker in a huge SEC matchup this Saturday. After two seasons playing with the Vols (where he won SEC All-freshman honors), To'o To'o transferred to Alabama last year and won second-team All-SEC honors. He's excited to return to Knoxville and what will be an electric environment, but he knows it is all about business and Bama beating the Vols for the 16th straight time. 

Syracuse is rolling right now. Quarterback Garrett Shrader has had an outstanding season, but if the Orange get anything near the production running back Sean Tucker gave them last week, then this is an ACC title contender. Against Wagner, Tucker rushed for 232 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 59-0 beatdown. Sure, that was on an FCS opponent, but he's also run for 112 yards on UConn and 100 yards on Louisville -- scoring TDs in both games. He also ran for nearly 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, with 105 yards and a TD coming against NC State, this week's opponent.

We're about to find out if Syracuse is for real. After hosting the Wolfpack this week, their remaining schedule is at Clemson, Notre Dame, at Pitt, Florida State, at Wake Forest and at Boston College.